After doing a lot of forum searching on here as well as JL's gallery, I have put together my ultimate audio system with an extremely clean install. I only have one concern that I was hoping would get addressed from one of you guys. I have all XR 6.5" components and coxials in the door, dash and rear deck. Removed the stock subwoofer and have 1 12W6 firing right out of the hole. A 500/1 pushing the W6 and a 300/4 pushing the XR's. Cleansweep and ALL JL wiring. Sun Valley Stereo in Phoenix did the install and I couldn't be happier. They also put the Master volume and BASS knobs in a great location which I close at any time so it still looks factory.

Here is my concern:
my old stereo system in a grand am was 2 MTX 12's, sealed box, a 600-watt Kenwood amp, aftermarket Eclipse headunit with only the front speakers replaced with Eclipse 4"x6"s running off headunit. This system would SLAM!!! the subs were facing towards the rear of the car keep in mind.

New system (above), sounds awesome as well, but the BASS is not a booming as i thought i might be. i am wondering if i might have been a mistake of having the sub right below the factory hole firing in to the cabin and not using the whole trunk.....................has anyone else done my set up?????? Or do you think i should have the box facing to the side as the wall look is puuuurty?????????

Let me know your thoughts.......I also have been told that those subs are extrememly tight when new and take some time to "loosen" up. thanks.

 

 

yeah, i can't figure out how to add pics to my post..............can someone help me out?? thanks.

 

How To Post Pictures

 

Here you go.

 

looks good! i have the same amp and sub, mine is fireing into tha cabin, w/ a 3sixty sound processor, my bass sounds great not too overpowering, what size/type box is your sub in, that could be a factor or maybe you could have the install shop adjust and tune your amps to give you more bass, if thats what you want

 

Looks tight...real clean install.

Don't know what to tell ya about the bass, not my area of expertise. I've been tweaking my system for the past few weeks and it's getting there. I had the opposite problem...way too much bass!!!

Good luck

 

forgot to mention, looks like you're missing the trunk panel cover for the underside of the rear deck.

 

Well, as far as volume of bass, yes you made a mistake. You really want the sub to fire towards the rear of the car ideally...unless you are doing a wall, which...none of us are.

 

From what I understand, and I could be wrong, having the sub fire into the trunk as opposed to into the cabin uses the entire trunk to resonate the bass. However, firing into the cabin doesn't do that as well, especially if the trap door is open.

 

I left my stock sub in place so that road noise from the trunk didn't enter the cabin and feared reducing the bass by having the open trap door. It's difficult to test it with and without the sub in place so I guessed and left it in. My 10" box enclosure points away from the cabin.

I have my sub set on the head unit at exactly the midpoint and like the way it sounds. I can therefore pump it up if there's a tune that sounds better with more bass.

You did an awesome job on your dvd LCD mods btw.

Zoser

 

Yay! Something I know about!!

Firstly, because you have lost half of your cone area, you wont be moving nearly as much base, in addition to that, you lost power as well, so I wouldn't begin to imagine that the W6 would be comparable to the MTX's( which depending on the model are VERY boomy).
Also, generally for *most* setups you get the most boom for your buck by facing the sub away from the cab, towards the trunk lid at least 18" i think, that way the bass will reflect off the trunk, get back in wave will the bass approaching the trunk, and when it hits the cabin will be louder (here is my crappy example):

<<<<< Sub Here | Here is the inside of the car
^This is the air waves moving

So the bass will relect off the trunk lid |<<<< and will fire back >>>> into the cabin, basically being louder.

Yes I know that is quite possibly the worst explanation ever, but as far as I know its true.

But also, you have a opportunity to make it louder by firing directly into the cabin using cabin gain, which is a TOTALLY different subject.

In conclusion, its because of your loss of power and cone area, and the sub isnt broken in yet, and you REALLY shouldnt be pushing to hard yet anyways, wait about a day, play it at about 25% volume for 24-48 hours before really cranking it.

 

i had this idea today about unhooking the W6 from the 500/1 and throwing my old MTX 12's in to see what they would sound like..............and as i thought..........................WOW!!!!! they actually are in front of that wall and still SLAM like nobody's business. I think i will revisit the shop and see what they can do............another question i raise to all of you.

My 1 12W6 with the 500/1 should out perform the 2 MTX 12's (circuit city already in box type), shouldn't it????? If i am under the wrong impression, then i might see if they shop will trade me for 2-12" W3 and just have them facing the rear of the car. THOUGHTS please????

 

I have 1 HO10w6 (JL enclosure) firing to the rear hooked up to a JL 250-1 and it shakes my TL

 

No, generally one 12" will not outperform 2 12". What are the model on the MTX? Some MTX get VERY loud, but sound like crap IMO.

 

So i went to the stereo shop and had them change my setup with the woofer facing towards the rear of the trunk. Sounds 10x better. They went ahead and kept the wall and just put some trim paneling around the open areas to hide the gaps and wires. Not bad for being a "free" fix. Let me know what you guys think.

 

I like the new look, however, the truck space got even more limited. The good news is that everything can be moved/taken out extremely easily. Also, for those perfectionists out there, yes, the trim is not even due to the shape of the box. I did not want to have my car be there for 2 more days so i just told them to keep the original box as it is to the correct specs................

 

Wow I like the new look alot better.

 

I like your new set-up...looks a lot better than original. Regarding the sub/bass. Learned something new this week. This size of the sealed enclosure can make a dramatic impact on a subs performance. The smaller the air space in the box, (i.e .80 cubic feet), the tighter the bass sound, better SQ. For boomier, louder bass, the air space needs to be more...up to 1.5 cubic feet. These specs are for a Zapco R10B 10'' sub...specs for other sizes and manufacturers may be different.

Regardless, nice work on your system...give your install guys props for a good job

 

Not to steal the thread, but howdoes a JL 12w6 compared to an Alpine Type S or Type R? Or You can can simply tell me the JL's rms, peak power and price, thanks a lot!

 

400 RMS, running the 500/1
$500 from dealer, i know you can buy them cheaper on the net, but i had another post about this topic and 100% of the responses said to pay the extra dough and get the warranty..........

 

thanks mrobinson!

 

Man the new set-up looks awesome man!! very nice!